A coalition of civil society members and organisations, including MSF Access Campaign, carried out several advocacy related activities, including protests, at The 49th Union World Conference on Lung Health in The Hague, The Netherlands 24-27 October 2018. Photos are from a protest on 24 October 2018 where activists brought attention to the drug procurement challenges countries face when they shift from Global Fund support to domestic procurement and co-financing issues. Photograph by Anna McGurk
Technical brief |

Beware the Global Fund Procurement Cliff

Safeguarding supply of affordable quality medicines and diagnostics in context of risky transitions and co-financing

HIV/AIDS TUBERCULOSIS
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Photograph by Anna McGurk

For the last two decades, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) has helped to scale up access to affordable, quality-assured medicines and diagnostics that have saved millions of lives. However, this progress is under threat.

Following stagnating donor funding globally, the Global Fund has in recent years revised its policies that determine funding for countries, including its funding allocation methodology and its Sustainability, Transition and Co-financing (STC) policy. As a result, countries are shifting from Global Fund-supported mechanisms to national processes for the purchase of medicines and diagnostics for the three diseases.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) believes this shift is often premature and poses significant risks to people’s access to quality medicines and diagnostics, with dire implications for people with HIV, tuberculosis (TB), or malaria.

This policy brief analyses risks to the affordability, quality and supply of medicines and diagnostics, and provides recommendations for the Global Fund, affected countries, donor countries and the World Health Organization to collectively address these challenges.